Storytelling: The foundation of marketing for startups

As an entrepreneur, your goal is to make a place for your company in the market – a large task often paired with a small budget. A great way to maximize your marketing influence is to work on your storytelling.

At last week’s Entrepreneurship 101 lecture, Mark Evans of ME consulting spoke of the importance of storytelling when it comes to marketing communications and B2C sales.

This method of using stories to promote your business and products is called content marketing and, according to Mark, it’s the trend that most brands will be following in 2013. Get a leg up on the competition by hearing Mark’s tips for being a successful storyteller. You’ll also learn how to avoid storytelling killers.

Mark believes storytelling is the most under-rated skill in business, but why is it so important? Being able to tell a compelling story allows your message to resonate with your audience, which can help you to:

attract employees;

acquire customers; and

raise capital from VCs and angel investors.

Your story should be succinct and yet include the necessary information about your product or service. Mark provides a detailed breakdown of what your story should include, along with examples of media you could use to reach your target audience.

This lesson is important for everyone, as successful businesses have storytellers throughout the company, not just in the sales and marketing teams.

It’s never too early to start working on your story, even if your product is not ready to market. Start right away by following Mark’s tips for successful storytelling.

Mark is a recurring speaker at the Entrepreneurship 101 series, and each year he revises his presentation to focus on the latest marketing communication trends. Watch Mark’s previous presentations below: